Movies about Food, Coffee and Chocolate, Part II

Julie and Julia is a great movie if you love food – one crazy New Yorker decided to complete all of Julia Child’s recipes from one of her book’s in one year…meaning she had to make more than a dish a day from the book! The movie follows her story, but also shows the story of Julia when she arrived in France – how she became a chef and created the book. It’s a very sweet movie about two women and their different battles. As it’s based on real stories it’s maybe a bit more naturalistic than most Hollywood movies, but of course, it’s still Hollywood.

Julie and Julia features Meryl Streep and so does It’s Complicated. Now, this movie is not strictly about food, but in it Meryl Streep’s character happens to own a café and boy is the food delicious in the movie. So if you like love with a little bit of food instead of food with a little bit of love, then this is for you!

If you want more chocolate rather than food there’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, maybe the most whimsical fairytale of them all! And if you like children’s stories (although of course Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is for adults too…) then there’s Ratatouille. A foreign classic is Eat, Drink, Men, Women and more in the foreign department includes Love and Lemons. There’s also Big Night if you are looking for a classic movie and if you want some comfort food, why then there’s Fried Green Tomatoes. If you want something contemporary and Italian, there’s I am Love with Tilda Swinton.

Now, the question is: are you ready for a good movie, a good meal, a good cup of coffee and some good chocolate, or a cup of good hot chocolate?

Meryl Streep as "Julia Child" in Columbia Pictures' JULIE & JULIA.

Movies about Food, Coffee and Chocolate, Part I

Chances are if you are into coffee, you might be somewhat into other drinks and food as well. You also might not. However, we found a few films that are themed around food and coffee, whether documentaries, or fiction.

Black Gold – this movie is a documentary and a rather shocking portrait of what goes on behind the scenes in the world of coffee, focusing on the economics. Maybe not a movie to sit down and relax in front of, but rather a movie that will enlighten you and make you think. Given the amount of prices it has won there is a chance you may enjoy watching it too!

Squidoo lists some famous coffee moments in movies here, it’s however dubious whether you would want to watch these movies because of the coffee. Very dubious in fact.

Now, onto the more fictional, feel good movies out there that are all about the food and drink, as opposed to having one scene about it. First off there’s Chocolat with Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, directed by Lasse Hallstrom. This movie is famous and with all due respect – it’s a sweet movie very well made. The plot centers around Anouk and her daughter who have moved to a small French town where they’re setting up a chocolate shop. The chocolate appears somewhat enchanted, curing various ailments and making the townsfolk a little bit excited and the priest a little bit angry. Not least because the shop was set up during lent.

Chocolat is a movie that beautifully portrays the intriguing relationships between people and what it takes to follow one’s heart, even if it’s against popular opinion. It is also a beautiful portrait of the magic of chocolate and we recommend that you have a light dinner and then deck the halls with chocolate before watching it, as by the end of it you will otherwise go on an emergency trip to the nearest shop selling chocolate and if it happens to be eleven o’clock at night you might have to drive very far or end up with something bland, like your regular Hershey’s bar. No, after this you will want quality chocolate. The stuff that makes your heart beat faster…

Another movie about enchanted food is Like Water for Chocolate which explores the idea of emotions being poured into the food you cook and how that effects the people who eat it. It’s also an incredible love story about the story of two lovers being separated by family traditions. Set in Latin America this beautiful movie is sure to get your heart racing as well. This time, maybe bring the whole store with you home as you will probably get some inspiration to start cooking after watching it…maybe even in the middle of the night…

Not found the movie you are looking for yet? In part two of this blog we will discuss even more food and coffee movies!

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